: The specific aim of this research is to identify risk factors for functional decline in an observational cohort of urban community-dwelling older women who are followed for 12 months after experiencing violence (or the threat of violence) inside or outside of the home. The primary hypothesis is that victimization is a potentially unraveling event for an older women that may perturb the delicate equilibrium of many integrated domains, thereby conspiring to create a spiral of functional decline. Two hundred fifty six older women who are recruited from an urban victimology program will be followed for twelve months using standardized assessments. The primary endpoint of the study is functional decline, defined as the development of new or worsening impairment in the ability to perform activities of daily living or decline in performance based measures. The prevalence of functional decline over the follow-up period will be calculated, and independent risk factors for decline will be identified using appropriate bivariate and multivariable techniques. A major strength of the project is the integration of health care, legal, and criminal justice perspectives by virtue of the assembled investigators and organizations. They include the principal investigator (a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist with substantial research expertise in elder abuse), a criminologist with content expertise in violence against women (Dr. Ronet Bachman), one of the country's leading community based elder abuse victimology programs (The Burden Center for the Aging in New York City), a elder law institute specializing in elder abuse (The Reingold Institute of the Brookdale Center on Aging), and the New York City Police Department's 19th precinct The long term goal of this research is the development of intervention strategies to prevent functional decline in victimized older women based on the risk factors identified.